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LURCHING FROM ONE RELATIONSHIP INTO ANOTHER HAS NEVER BEEN SO COMMONPLACE. JUST ASK MEL B, WHO MARRIED STEPHEN BELAFONTE SIX MONTHS AFTER SHE AND EDDIE MURPHY BIT THE DUST. TWO REAL LIFE BOOMERANG BRIDES SHARE THEIR STORIES…

By Natasha Holt

Nia Cowap and her boyfriend Simon* described their relationship as 'comfortable' but sadly, at just 23, the spark had gone, so when Nia contemplated their future together, she realised she needed more.

Nia, now 26, who works in a radiography unit, decided to break up with Simon.

Then, just three months after the split, she met Steve, 30. Within 18 months they were married and had a baby boy. Fast work.

But Nia’s not the only one to bounce out of a relationship and into a marriage in lightning-quick fashion.

Even celebs are at it – Mel B, 32, married Stephen Belafonte, also 32, in August last year, just six months after being dumped by comedian Eddie Murphy, 46.

So is it just about being unable to choose when you fall in love? Or are these girls suffering from rebound romance?

According to chartered psychologist Professor Alex Gardner, boomerang marriages do have a genuine chance of success.

“As long as you’re willing to take the lessons you learnt from your past relationship into your next one, and be honest with yourself about what went wrong, you have a real chance of making it work,” says Professor Gardner.

“People can know very quickly if someone is right for them. If it feels right, it probably is.”

Nia agrees. “After years of being in the wrong relationship, I knew instantly when I’d found the right one.

"From the start Steve and I knew we were perfect together. We couldn’t wait to get married and have a family.”

Breaking up with her ex, Simon, was a painful process.

But it was the thrill of romance, the butterflies in the stomach that were missing with Simon, that hit Nia full-force when she met Steve.

“We were introduced by friends and from the minute we started chatting, we couldn’t stop.

"Then we had this amazing kiss. I’d never felt so excited.”

Steve, who’s in the army, had to go off on exercise straight afterwards, but he managed to call Nia while he was away.

She explains: “We met up as soon as he got back and it was incredible.

"We drove 160 miles every weekend to see each other – I lived in Wrexham, Clwyd, and he was in Lichfield, Staffordshire.

"When we couldn’t be together we’d spend all day swapping emails.”

Nia and Steve started talking about marriage when they were only two months into their relationship.

“I never worried about it being a rebound relationship because I knew I felt differently about Steve to the way I’d felt about Simon.”

Nia and Simon are now married and living in Wrexham together with their baby boy, Daniel.

ARE YOU A BOOMERANG BRIDE? DO YOU FEEL FOR THE DUMPED GUYS? HAVE YOUR SAY

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Credits

Photography: Kalpesh Lathigra *names have been changed